Seymour Haden On Sale

Sir Francis Seymour Haden was an etcher, collector and surgeon, born in the UK in 1818. He studied at the Derby School, Christ's Hospital and University College in London. He also studied at the medical schools of the Sorbonne in Paris and Grenoble. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1842, and he was made a fellow in 1857. He was an honorary surgeon to the Department of Science and Art from 1851–67 and in 1847, he settled into private practice. Haden was a vice-president of the obstetrical society of London and one of the founders of the Royal Hospital for Incurables in 1850. In 1858, Haden encouraged James McNeil Whistler to work from nature and consequently, Whistler dedicated his first set of etchings entitled French Set, to Haden. The etchings were printed by Auguste Delâtre in Paris and marketed, with some help from Haden, in London. In 1859, Whistler settled in London and often visited Haden's Sloane Street home. Haden became the president of the Society of Painter-Etchers, and he was partly responsible for the Rembrandt exhibition at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1879. His published works include The Etched Work of Rembrandt (1879), The Art of the Painter-Etcher (1890) and the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers (1891). In 1891, he was elected a member of the Athenæum and in 1894 his public service was rewarded with a knighthood. In 1905, his distinction was recognized abroad by honorary membership of the Institut de France, the Académie des Beaux-Arts and the Société des Artistes Français. He was awarded medals for etching at the Expositions Universelles in Paris in 1889 and 1900.

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

Explore a vast range of abstract prints on 1stDibs to find a piece to enhance your existing collection or transform a space.

Unlike figurative paintings and other figurative art, which focuses on realism and representational perspectives, abstract art concentrates on visual interpretation. An artist may use a single color or simple geometric forms to create a world of depth. Printmaking has a rich history of abstraction. Through materials like stone, metal, wood and wax, an image can be transferred from one surface to another.

During the 19th century, iconic artists, including Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Georgiana Houghton and others, began exploring works based on shapes and colors. This was a departure from the academic conventions of European painting and would influence the rise of 20th-century abstraction and its pioneers, like Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian.

Some leaders of European abstraction, including Franz Kline, were influenced by the gestural shapes of East Asian calligraphy. Calligraphy interprets poetry, songs, symbols or other means of storytelling into art, from works on paper in Japan to elements of Islamic architecture.

Bold, daring and expressive, abstract art is constantly evolving and dazzling viewers. And entire genres have blossomed from it, such as Color Field painting and Minimalism.

The collection of abstract art prints on 1stDibs includes etchings, lithographs, screen-prints and other works, and you can find prints by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and more.